Donor spending: Nutrition-specific and -sensitive disbursements
The Global Nutrition Report tracks the progress of donors against the spending commitments they make as part of the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) process.
Use the tables on this page to track and compare some of the nutrition disbursements that donors reported between 2010 and 2020. The totals include spending by donors who made financial commitments at the 2013 London Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit.
Full details of commitments made are available for all donors and entities. The 2020 totals are taken from the latest N4G survey (administered in 2022). This latest data is presented alongside historic disbursement information, which has been compiled from previous surveys and Global Nutrition Reports.
Read more about the nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive actions these disbursements support.
Table 1: Nutrition-specific disbursements (US$ thousands) reported by donors to the Global Nutrition Report, 2010–2020
| Donors | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 6,672 | 16,516 | NA | 20,857 | NA | 15,639 | NA | 17,902 | 11,609 | RC |
| Canada | 98,846 | 205,463 | 169,350 | 159,300 | 108,600 | 97,628 | 93,099 | 106,386 | 66,560 | 70,847 |
| EU | 50,889 | 8 | 54,352 | 44,680 | 48,270 | 29,721 | 57,097 | 53,480 | 81,002 | 100,498 |
| France | 2,895 | 3,852 | 2,606 | 6,005 | 4,660 | 8,572 | 4,339 | NR | 20,3347 | 16,227 |
| Germany | 2,987 | 2,719 | 35,666 | 50,572 | 51,399 | 18,047 | 19,621 | 28,934 | 54,960 | 123,568 |
| Ireland | 7,691 | 7,565 | 10,776 | 19,154 | 13,079 | 12,391 | 18,238 | NR | 32,154 | RC |
| Netherlands | 2,661 | 4,007 | 20,216 | 25,025 | 31,604 | 46,331 | 32,837 | 67,879 | 44,427 | RC |
| Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA |
| UK | 39,860 | 63,127 | 105,000 | 87,000 | 92,400 | 156,000 | 188,294 | 159,586 | 53,638 | 117,400 |
| US | 82,613 | 229,353 | 288,649 | 263,241 | 382,891 | 296,974 | 195,921 | 177,948 | 278,939 | 309,050 |
| Gates Foundation | 50,060 | 80,610 | 83,534 | 61,700 | 96,500 | 96,616 | 144,532 | NR | NR | NR |
| CIFF | 980 | 5,481 | 37,482 | 26,750 | 53,607 | 32,784 | 63,180 | 24,413 | 14,577 | 19,027 |
| World Bank | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Source: Based on data provided by the donors.
Notes: NR: no response to our request for data; NA: not applicable (meaningful totals cannot be calculated owing to missing data or data produced using a methodology other than the SUN Donor Network’s). RC: Reached commitment (commitment makers who had already reached their commitments were not required to submit additional data for 2020). Data is in current prices. Most donors reported in US$; where they did not, an annual average market exchange rate from OECD or the US Internal Revenue Service is used. CIFF: Children’s Investment Fund Foundation; Gates Foundation: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Calculations and reporting often differ by country and donor. See below for donor-specific notes.
Table 2: Nutrition-sensitive disbursements (US$ thousands) reported by donors to the Global Nutrition Report, 2010–2020
| Donors | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 49,903 | 114,553 | NA | 87,598 | NA | 128,706 | NA | 55,259 | 103,608 | RC |
| Canada | 80,179 | 90,171 | NA | 998,674 | 1,271,986 | 1,309,732 | 1,102,545 | 1,081,706 | 857,030 | 836,448 |
| EU | 392,563 | 309,209 | 315,419 | 570,890 | 423,704 | 496,672 | 538,637 | 510,160 | 455,211 | 632,684 |
| France | 23,003 | 27,141 | 33,599 | NR | 23,781 | 16,446 | 25,991 | NR | 4,901 | 20,644 |
| Germany | 18,856 | 29,139 | 20,642 | 51,547 | 84,174 | 186,780 | 142,809 | 159,371 | 127,608 | 171,597 |
| Ireland | 34,806 | 45,412 | 48,326 | 56,154 | 54,217 | 54,248 | 56,843 | NR | 31,280 | RC |
| Netherlands | 2,484 | 20,160 | 21,616 | 18,274 | 28,422 | 56,510 | 53,917 | 23,068 | 21,216 | RC |
| Switzerland | 21,099 | 28,800 | 29,160 | 26,501 | 43,656 | 42,190 | 59,971 | 63,565 | NA | NA |
| UK | 302,215 | 412,737 | 734,700 | 780,500 | 928,300 | 693,000 | 706,334 | 728,797 | 762,301 | 979,500 |
| US | 2,005,880 | 1,968,759 | 2,449,706 | 2,656,269 | 2,555,332 | 3,038,180 | 3,548,197 | 3,745,170 | 3,458,122 | 3,982,422 |
| Gates Foundation | 12,320 | 34,860 | 43,500 | 29,200 | 42,000 | 62,619 | 37,289 | NR | NR | NR |
| CIFF | 0 | 0 | 854 | 154 | 20,725 | 21,595 | 38,538 | 49,409 | 70,132 | 68,617 |
| World Bank | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Source: Based on data provided by the donors.
Notes: NR: no response to our request for data; NA: not applicable (meaningful totals cannot be calculated owing to missing data or data produced using a methodology other than the SUN Donor Network’s). RC: Reached commitment (commitment makers who had already reached their commitments were not required to submit additional data for 2020). Data is in current prices. Most donors reported in US$; where they did not, an annual average market exchange rate from OECD or the US Internal Revenue Service is used. CIFF: Children’s Investment Fund Foundation; Gates Foundation: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Calculations and reporting often differ by country and donor. See below for donor-specific notes.
Table 3: Total nutrition disbursements (US$ thousands) reported by donors to the Global Nutrition Report, 2010–2020
| Donors | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 56,575 | 131,069 | NA | 108,455 | NA | 144,345 | NA | 73,161 | 115,217 | RC |
| Canada | 179,025 | 295,634 | NA | 1,157,974 | 1,380,586 | 1,407,360 | 1,195,645 | 1,188,092 | 923,590 | 907,294 |
| EU | 443,452 | 309,217 | 369,771 | 615,570 | 471,974 | 526,393 | 595,734 | 563,639 | 536,213 | 733,183 |
| France | 25,898 | 30,993 | 36,205 | NA | 28,441 | 25,018 | 30,330 | NR | 25,238 | 36,871 |
| Germany | 21,843 | 31,858 | 56,308 | 102,119 | 135,573 | 204,827 | 162,430 | 188,305 | 182,568 | 285,135 |
| Ireland | 42,497 | 52,977 | 59,102 | 75,308 | 67,295 | 66,640 | 75,081 | NR | 63,434 | RC |
| Netherlands | 5,145 | 24,167 | 41,832 | 43,299 | 60,027 | 102,841 | 86,754 | 90,948 | 65,643 | RC |
| Switzerland | 21,099 | 28,800 | 29,160 | 26,501 | 43,656 | 42,190 | 59,971 | 63,565 | 96,499 | NA |
| UK | 342,075 | 475,864 | 839,700 | 867,500 | 1,020,700 | 849,000 | 894,628 | 888,384 | 815,939 | 1,096,900 |
| US | 2,088,493 | 2,198,112 | 2,738,356 | 2,919,510 | 2,938,223 | 3,335,154 | 3,744,118 | 3,923,119 | 3,738,107 | 4,291,472 |
| Gates Foundation | 62,380 | 115,470 | 127,034 | 90,900 | 138,500 | 159,235 | 181,822 | NR | NR | NR |
| CIFF | 980 | 5,481 | 38,336 | 26,904 | 74,332 | 54,379 | 101,718 | 73,823 | 84,709 | 87,644 |
| World Bank | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Source: Based on data provided by the donors.
Notes: NR: no response to our request for data; NA: not applicable (meaningful totals cannot be calculated owing to missing data or data produced using a methodology other than the SUN Donor Network’s). RC: Reached commitment (commitment makers who had already reached their commitments were not required to submit additional data for 2020). Data is in current prices. Most donors reported in US$; where they did not, an annual average market exchange rate from OECD or the US Internal Revenue Service is used. CIFF: Children’s Investment Fund Foundation; Gates Foundation: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Calculations and reporting often differ by country and donor. See below for donor-specific notes.
Australia: disbursement figures are typically reported biennially to the Global Nutrition Report.
Canada: methodology 1) for nutrition-specific disbursements, used Creditor Reporting System (CRS) purpose code 12240-basic nutrition disbursements as reported to the OECD DAC; 2) for nutrition-sensitive, used a pre-identified subset of CRS codes linked to nutrition-sensitive outcomes to identify potential nutrition-sensitive projects, manually assessed each referred project according to the SUN criteria, and applied the associated proportional allocation to nutrition-sensitive CRS codes of validated projects. For the aggregate figure, it applied an annual average market exchange rate to report in US$. The 2020 nutrition-sensitive disbursement figures include a repayable loan of US$78 million.
EU: 1) for nutrition-specific disbursements, identified all disbursements reported to the DAC linked to nutrition-specific commitments made so far and applied the SUN methodology of 100% of the disbursement amount; 2) for nutrition-sensitive, identified all disbursements reported to the DAC linked to nutrition-sensitive commitments made so far and applied the SUN methodology of the proportional allocation of 100% or 25% of the disbursement amount depending on whether the related commitment had been categorised as ‘nutrition-sensitive dominant’ or ‘nutrition-sensitive partial’. A commitment corresponds to a legally binding financial agreement between the EU and a partner. The disbursement figures reported by the EU are the total amounts of commitments contracted so far. Further disbursements of funds are made according to a schedule of disbursements outlined in individual contracts, progress in implementation and rate of use of the funds by the partner. For 2020, the values include development and humanitarian aid instruments.
France: reported US$4.7 million as nutrition-specific disbursements in 2015. The only difference between what France reported through the OECD DAC system and to the Global Nutrition Report is the SUN contribution, which was counted as a nutrition-specific disbursement for our reporting.
Germany: figures represent nutrition disbursements from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Japan: The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA): data on JICA’s nutrition interventions was sent separately to the Global Nutrition Report and does not include figures from any other Japanese government agency. In 2019, this was US$90.9 million for nutrition-specific interventions and US$487 for nutrition-sensitive interventions.
Switzerland: did not use the basic nutrition code and thus reports 0 for nutrition-specific spending from 2010 to 2018. For 2019, Switzerland reported disbursements as one combined value for nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific disbursements and therefore specific values for nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific disbursements are not able to be calculated. The higher nutrition disbursements reported by Switzerland in 2019 are the result of 1) taking into account the OECD DAC CRS codes introduced in 2018 and 2) of taking into account projects from sectors 1–3 when searching SDC's project database for all projects potentially relating to nutrition (step 1 of SDN methodology). In previous years only projects from sector 1 were considered.
UK: figures represent nutrition disbursements from the Department for International Development (DFID) only; 2016 figure includes US$45 million of nutrition-specific matched funding; 2017 figure includes US$89 million of nutrition-specific matched funding; 2018 figure includes US$35.2 million of nutrition-specific matched funding; 2019 figure includes US$53.6 million of nutrition-specific matched funding; 2020 figure includes US$47.3 million of nutrition-specific matched funding. In November 2020, DFID merged with the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to form the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, who responded to this survey in both 2021 and 2022.
US: U.S. Government (USG) data is reported for all Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible countries, on both an obligation and disbursement basis. USG agencies reporting for CY 2020 include: African Development Foundation, Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, Department of State, Department of the Interior, Inter-American Foundation, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Peace Corps, Trade and Development Agency, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The basis for the updated figures reported to the GNR can be found on the website: foreignassistance.gov. For nutrition-specific, the US government uses the OECD/DAC CRS purpose code 12240. It also includes the portion of ‘emergency food aid’ (CRS code 72040) and ‘development food aid’ (CRS code 52010) under the Title II Food for Peace Program[1] identified as nutrition (programme element 3.1.9) in the US government’s Foreign Assistance Framework. This programme element aims to reduce malnutrition among children under 5 years of age. To achieve this goal, development partners use a preventive approach during the first 1,000 days – from a woman’s pregnancy through to a child’s second birthday. Programmes use a synergistic package of nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions that help decrease chronic and acute malnutrition by improving preventive and curative health services, including: growth monitoring and promotion; water, sanitation and hygiene; immunisation; deworming; reproductive health and family planning; and malaria prevention and treatment. For nutrition-sensitive, the SUN Donor Network agreed on a set of 35 CRS purpose codes for members to use to identify nutrition activities. One code (13022), however, does not exist in the overall OECD/DAC purpose code structure. The USG reviewed the definition for the codes and developed a subset of 22 CRS codes (18 from the original 34, and 4 additional codes) that most strongly reflect its nutrition-sensitive programs. For nutrition-sensitive codes, the USG applied coefficients of either 25% or 100% to each of the 22 purpose codes. A coefficient of 25% is applied to totals for the following 18 CRS purpose codes: 12110, 12220, 12250, 12261, 12281, 13020, 15170, 31120, 31161, 31163, 31166, 31182, 31191, 31192, 31195, 31320, 31382, and 31391(bolded, italicised codes are the additional codes selected by the USG). Drinking water supply and sanitation, and direct feeding through emergency food assistance have strong and direct associations with nutrition-sensitive outcomes. Accordingly, a coefficient of 100% is applied to the following four CRS purpose codes: 14030, 14031, 14032, and 72040. The McGovern–Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, previously recorded as nutrition-specific, is continuing to be reported as nutrition-sensitive to reflect a purpose code change from nutrition (12240) to basic education (11220). This change starts in the 2018 report. Please note that all funds recorded in CRS code 72040 for nutrition-sensitive include only the emergency food assistance investments not captured in the 3.1.9 USG Framework under nutrition-specific. *The Office of Food for Peace (FFP) merged into the new Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance in June 2020. However, the data included in this report reflected pre-merger FFP programming.
World Bank: does not submit disbursements to the Global Nutrition Report and reports only on commitments through the N4G process. For the Bank, these commitments are legally binding and can be considered disbursements. However, the reporting is not comparable to other donors’ disbursement figures hence not presented in the table.